1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling system cooling, and more particularly to a system and method for information handling system floor tile cooling airflow measurement.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems are sometimes grouped in relatively small areas, such as in support of network functions. For example, information technology or data centers typically have server rooms which house multiple information handling systems in one or more server racks. A typical server rack stands several feet tall and has information handling systems vertically stacked from the floor level to the top level. Indeed, information handling system manufacturers generally attempt to design data centers to have a desired information handling capacity in a minimal footprint. However, large concentrations of information handling systems in relatively small areas generally results in heat build-up that decreases system performance and, if excessive, leads to system failure. In order to counteract this heat build-up, information technology or data centers typically provided a cooling airflow into server rooms to cool the information handling systems and remove excess heat. Air conditioning systems are purchased to provide a desired degree of cooling according to the number and type of deployed information handling systems. The cooling airflow is usually routed through ducts deployed in a raised floor that supports the information handling systems. The ducts output the cooling airflow through floor tiles located proximate information handling systems. Ideally, the cooling airflow has a great enough flow rate so that chilled air reaches information handling systems located in the upper portion of a server rack.
One difficulty that arises with the delivery of chilled air to information handling systems is the distribution of the chilled air through multiple floor vents. Imbalanced delivery of cooling airflow introduces the risk of damage to information handling systems through overheating where airflow is deficient and increases cooling expense where systems receive excessive cooling airflow. In order to ensure adequate and balanced cooling airflow, measurements are typically taken at each of the floor vents and adjustments made as necessary to achieve a desired cooling airflow at each floor vent. Typical cooling airflow rates vary from 100 to 700 cubic feet per minute (CFM) with an average of approximately 400 CFM. The airflow at a selected floor vent is measured with a number of types of devices, such as a hood that fits over the entire vent or a propeller-driven hand held device that is manually inserted in the airflow coming from a selected vent. However, these measuring devices tend to be expensive and complex. For instance, a floor hood device used to measure airflow in the HVAC industry tends to cause backpressure at the vent, which reduces the cooling airflow so that complex computations are often needed to determine the actual airflow of the vent when unimpeded by the hood device. Manual measurements with handheld devices typically require multiple samples at different locations of a vent and subsequent extrapolation to approximate the flow rate. Other devices, such as hot wire anemometers, are also available but tend to involve the same types of complexity and expense. Thus, the task of managing flow rates from floor vents is often beyond the skill set of typical information technology administrators.